Santa Claus

We visited with Santa at our ward Christmas party. We had a breakfast this year which was new for us but it was really fun. Landon sang with the Primary kids. It is so fun to watch him perform. Lauren acted a little scared of Santa but did sit on his lap. The funny thing is both the kids told him they wanted something different than what they requested a few months ago! We told them the elves start making the presents far in advance so don't be surprised if they don't receive their newly requested items. We have tried really hard to teach them not to expect too much so Landon made sure he only told Santa one thing. Kids make Christmas so much fun!

Avery's First Birthday

We had a fun celebration for Avery's birthday. The Robb's called and said they would be in Vegas so we made plans to go and see them. I made cupcakes and we took Avery's presents with us. We have not seen them since we lived in Frisco and it was great to see them again. They are such good people. Their daughter, Holly just moved into a new home and it is beautiful. We had a great time and got to celebrate little Avery's birthday while we were there. Avery LOVED her cupcake. She got scared because Lauren blew the party horn in her face. It took quite a while for her to recover. We got her a walker which I think she will really enjoy. Mimi and Poppy gave her a cute stuffed puppy and Grandma Schiess gave her a cabbage patch baby. We love having Avery in our home. She is a wonderful baby and it is so fun to watch her grow up! The Robb's had plans to go to dinner that night so we headed over to Dave and Rebecca's for dinner. Landon and Lawrence had quite the performance with their Star Wars swords. Our intermission performance was done by Lauren and Marie showing us their ballet moves. We had a fun filled day and evening. We are grateful to have such good friends.

Christmas Traditions

We started the first of our Christmas traditions last night. Nickolaus is a german tradition where you put your shoes out on the night of the 6th. If you have been good, you will find candy in your shoes and if not you will get a potato. This year the kids got letters from Santa Claus as well. It is a fun way to start out Christmas. The kids were so excited to see their shoes overflowing with candy. We are also trying to do Advent by doing a little Sunday night singing and telling Christmas stories. We are lacking the Advent wreath but hope to get one for next year. We are hoping this will help us to think more about the Savior and reflect on Christ.

Christmas Party

Things have been kind of a whirlwind with Grandma and Grandpa here. We LOVE it. They are so helpful with the kids. Grandpa takes Landon to preschool and picks him up. Grandma constantly cleans when she is here. The kids love having them here. We have eaten dinner together almost every night which has been great. Jerry was able to help with his Christmas party for work this year. He and I had a "date night" and bought close to 40 gifts for the white elephant gifts. We had a dinner at the hospital and then exchanged gifts. Everyone seemed really pleased with the outcome.

Thanksgiving

We had a really fun Thanksgiving. My Mom and Dad were here. They came down to set up their trailer here for the winter. We are so excited to have them here. Rod came and brought Shelby and Ethan. We are so glad they made the long drive here. Jerry and my Mom did the Turkey and we worked together with Costco for the rest of the food. The kids were so happy to have family here. The meal turned out really good and we had PLENTY to eat. We each went around the table and talked about what we were grateful for. The kids did not want to quit and kept asking us to take turns. We have so much to be grateful for and I loved the opportunity to reflect on all those things. We ate and watched the Glenn Beck conversion story. I was touched to hear of his conversion to the gospel of Jesus Christ. He has such a broad sphere of influence and it is amazing to see him using his national recognition for good. For some unknown reason Rod, Jerry and I decided to go shopping at the outlets at 11am. I did get Gymboree pajamas for the kids for under $5 but it was a little crazy. Rod is a maniac shopper and we didn't leave the outlets until close to 3am. We drove by Best Buy and saw lots of people camping out to get the doorbusters. Crazy. So I tried to go to bed but Rod wanted to go to Wal-mart and for some reason I agreed to go with him. I have never seen anything like it. What people will do to get Baby Alive for cheap. I thought for sure we would go home after Wal-mart but Rod drove over to Kohl's. Needless to say we got home around 7:30am. I think I am still recovering from the loss of sleep. We went to Twilight that night. Jerry, Grandpa, Landon and Uncle Rod got to attend a Jazz game on Saturday. They got to enjoy the game from the suite equipped with unlimited snacks. They had a great time. My Mom and I stayed here with the girls and we rented Barbie and the Diamond Castle, painted our nails and had snacks....does it get any better than that for a girls weekend? We were happy to spend time with Lauren and Avery.

Baby

So today a miracle of sorts occurred. Anyone that knows anything about Lauren knows she LOVES her baby. She was given this baby by Mimi Robb when we lived in Texas. Baby has been her constant companion ever since. There have been many times when I have considered buying another baby just for back up and especially when baby has been missing (Once Lauren locked her in her lunch box and forgot. Our life was miserable for one week) but I have never taken the plunge. This particular baby is somewhat difficult to find. I took Lauren to a kids store to look for some ballet shoes. They happen to have not one but TWO of her babies for sale (dirt cheap, I might add) so I bought them both. I feel so much more security knowing I have back up if the original baby disappears. Lauren ran right up and said she wanted to buy the baby so I hope she will adopt one of the new ones. As you can see from the pics.....the original baby is in bad shape. Miracles do happen.

Avery's New Tricks

• found her in the crib sitting up this morning
• sticking her cute little tongue out when you ask her
• clapping when you clap and ask her too.....it is seriously the cutest thing
• saying ma ma more frequently....usually all she says is da da
• pushing up to crawling position more and rocking back and forth
• laughing with the cutest laugh ever...i really need to video it
• saying hi in the cutest sing song voice

Football

This weekend was all about football. On Friday we drove to SLC to watch Nate play in a state championship game at Rice Eccles stadium. Nate did a great job. He had some really good blocks but they did lose the game. Teresa had a party after so we got to visit with Nate a bit. A highlight for Landon was getting to look at Doug's telescope. He was so excited because space is one of his current obsessions. We stayed in Springville that night with the Barson's. We missed Jeannette because she was out of town tending grandkids but sure appreciated Clyde's hospitality. Jerry had an awesome opportunity to attend the BYU vs. Utah game thanks to our gracious friends the Wright's. He had a great time. I was well taken care of in Springville and spent some time with Jill, Brent and kids. Landon had a few mishaps with the treadmill and also an unfortunate accident when he pretended to be a ghost and got hit in the head with a Ronald McDonald doll. We really enjoyed our time together. On Sunday, we met up with my parents and drove back home together. They will be here for a few weeks now and then for January-March. We are so excited.